Somy Ali runs a US-based NGO called No More Tears and works tirelessly for the victims of domestic abuse and rape. She says that, for her, there is no greater joy than to see the people who she help lead healthy and abuse-free lives.
“For me personally, happiness means bringing joy to others whether it is your friends, your family or even strangers who have shown even the smallest amount of kindness to me. Above all, happiness to me is seeing the victims my NGO rescues transform into survivors and live an abuse free life,” she says.
She adds, “My greatest strength is to be able to fight against any injustice I see, whether it is towards me or anyone else. As an activist, I can't sit around watching people treat other people with cruelty. I will not stand for that and will fight the system at any cost to defend those who are victims. Taking a stand and speaking the truth even if I know I will lose to those who are much more known and powerful than me is still worth it and brings me immense contentment and happiness. But, I reiterate, we all have bouts of happiness and no one is constantly happy. If you meet someone that tries to depict being consistently happy, recognize that to be a facade. This is the one reason I have immense respect for Deepika when she publicly spoke of her depression. That is perhaps the most courageous thing one can do, more so from someone with unbelievable success and fame. She did not care about the stigmas attached to talking about mental health issues and spoke her truth. I salute her valor and will always respect for speaking on this topic.”
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However, true happiness cannot be constant, says Somy, adding, “Firstly, as a human race, we must all comprehend and accept that no one and I mean no one in this world is perpetually happy. We all have our bad days and happiness comes in moments. I don't care if you belong to the Royal Family, you are a famous politician, or even a big shot celebrity, you will still have days that are horrible and make you feel awful. That is the simple nature of life and it impacts every single human being in this world. Thus, success has absolutely nothing to do with happiness and we have plenty of examples of that starting from Marilyn Monroe to Guru Dutt ji and list goes on and on. Once we accept this harsh reality of life, we will be able to live a calmer and a more containable existence with however much time each of us has on this planet. As the saying goes, ‘It's extremely lonely at the top.’ And, in my opinion, truer words were never spoken. Being famous and successful is not all that it's cut out to be and it comes with many cons along with pros.”
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Happiness needs to be worked at, she says. “Happiness is significant to our existence, yet we can't always be happy and we have to work at it. We must be careful who we surround ourselves with and by this, I mean positive people and genuine friends which are very hard to find. We have to stick to a daily routine of exercising which releases dopamine and brings us joy inevitably. We should spend time with our family and people who love us unconditionally which again, outside of our own blood are hard to find. Nonetheless, there are some very fortunate people who have had the luck of having the same friends for countless years and that is a key component to happiness. Never forget the people who stuck by you when you were down and out and needed help. Those are your real friends and those are the people who will always genuinely want you to be happy.”
Ask her what she cherishes the maximum in life, and she says, “Loyalty is extremely important to me, unconditional love, respect for each other in every relationship, no quid pro quo whatsoever, my parents, quality over quantity in friendships and last but not the least, my NGO, No More Tears which is what makes me literally breathe for on a daily basis.”
